There are two types of debts: recourse and nonrecourse. A recourse debt holds the borrower personally liable. All other debt is considered nonrecourse. In general, recourse debt (loans) allows lenders to collect what is owed for the debt even after they've taken collateral (home, credit cards).
The agreement with non-recourse factoring is that, within certain conditions, if the payments are late or unpaid then the factor absorbs the costs, the company does not have to worry about debt created by unpaid invoices.
Key differences: - Risk assumption: With Recourse shifts risk to the customer, while Without Recourse assumes risk with the bank. - Liability: With Recourse holds the customer liable, while Without Recourse releases the customer from liability.
Recourse factoring is the most common and means that your company must buy back any invoices that the factoring company is unable to collect payment on. You are ultimately responsible for any non-payment. Non-recourse factoring means the factoring company assumes most of the risk of non-payment by your customers.
With recourse factoring, the business is responsible. But with non-recourse factoring, the factoring company is responsible, although there may be some stipulations based on the terms of the agreement. Higher advance rates (i.e. amount of funding you receive upfront).
Beyond that benefit, there aren't many other advantages to using non-recourse factoring over recourse factoring. True non-recourse factoring involves a true sale of the receivable.
Factoring Companies Rely on Self-Regulation Similar to most alternative finance institutions, invoice factoring companies in the U.S. are not regulated by a formal government body.
Factoring without recourse means that the risk of accounts receivable being uncollectible transfers from the buyer to the seller. Basically, if an accounts receivable cannot be collected, the seller does not have to reimburse the buyer like they would if the factoring was “with recourse”.
In non-recourse receivables finance, the factor purchases the receivables from the seller and assumes the full debtor default risk. In a recourse transaction, the debtor default risk remains with the seller. Receivables purchased under a non-recourse agreement can generally be removed from the seller's balance sheet.